hogwarts battle: the ending
by ary42
Summary: the battle of Hogwarts in a different way from the canon. will feature a powerful harry. warning- strong violence
1. Chapter 1: periphery

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of Rowling.

" You've got the brains of a Death Eater"- Aberforth Dumbledore  
The Death Eater intelligence about the resistance at Hogwarts was completely wrong. They themselves knew that their Lord was on some pursuit, Bellatrix the trusted second-in-command was in charge of action.

The Carrows were in charge along with Snape, the Hogwarts teachers were quite submissive and Snape seemed to rule with an iron hand. Some twenty-five foolhardy students were holed up, led by two Gryffindors- Longbottom and Weasley, while amongst the Slytherins, Crabbe and Goyle became the favourite students of the Carrows- typical Death Eater muscle.

Bellatrix had known that the castle had no defences, except the enchantments resisting portkeys, apparition and flying because those can hit both ways. The floo network was disconnected, snatchers and dementors patrolled outside. She was not as dangerous as her Lord, but had enough skills anyway.  
Just as the battle began, all calculations proved wrong. The Carrows were somehow knocked out, Snape had to escape and the juniors were somehow inactive. But even as the Lord was not fighting with them, Bellatrix had a few hundred fighters, around 150 dementors and few giants.

Giants have a problem, they cannot be transported magically and need much food. After the giants would wreak havoc and the dementors weaken the defenders and maybe suck out a few souls, it would be a cakewalk- the Death eaters assumed.

Just as the attack would start, the defenders sprung into action. Two brooms quietly flew out the Astronomy tower, each carrying two people, all disillusioned. They silently flew towards the two giants approaching from the lakeside. Demelza Robbins was carrying Ginny Weasley, Padma her twin. Both Ginny and Parvati were excellent with the reductor curse. Though giants are tough, a well-aimed reductor curse at their noses create the effect of a hard punch.

The curses were so powerful that the giants lost a chunk of their loses and unable to withstand the pain, lost consciousness. They fell to the ground, the slanting ground promptly rolling them towards the lake, where the giant squid quickly dragged them down. The brooms did not stop. They flew towards the other four giants, then hit two of them with confounding charms straight at the eyes. The confused giants swung their clubs wildly, hitting their kin and causing some of the Death eaters to apparate away in panic.

By the time the confusion stopped and anti-disillusion charms fired at the sky, the two brooms had flown back to safety and the four girls joined the defenders, who were doing their parts in the long thought-out plans.

The giants tried to knock down the walls with the clubs, only to leap back in pain. The castle walls were protected with momentum-reversing spells that resulted in the force reverting to their hands, causing the wrists of the giants to snap. The dark wizards managed to lift the spells off the walls and repair the giant's bones, but it took time. Finally, the walls were knocked down, the giants were running up the slanting grounds, the dementors gliding in groups while the Death Eaters sent a stream of reductor curses towards the castle.

There was no werewolf except Fenrir Greyback present, but it was anyway useless as it was not a full-moon night. The Wolfsbane potion may help the drinkers to keep their minds, but not morph.  
The attack did not fare as expected. The castle was protected with with a honeycomb-like protective shield that clung closely to the walls, few parts of it were broken, the rest of the curses fell on the ground to create small holes.

The giants tried to run headlong, but as soon as they approached close, multiple things happened. An enchanted earthquake was created by runes inscribed on the obelisk-like stones in the grounds, causing powerful shockwaves that caused even the Death Eaters to fall to the ground. The giants were stopped for a few moments, but by that, thick tentacles formed out of the earth and pulled the giants down. Giants were strongly built, but not as much as hyped, they stood about 4-5 times higher than human males and not invincible.  
The dementor attack was futile. They were gliding over the grounds, thus unaffected by the earthquake. They were hungry for battle, sensing dozens of human minds as their targets. However, as they came near, fifty corporeal Patronuses burst forth from the upper windows and castle peripheries.

While a patronus can protect the caster from dementors, a single patronus can charge straight into a dementor, causing both to be destroyed. While the caster can cast another, they are only mentally exhausted, the dementor is destroyed. Most powerful wizards can use a single patronus to destroy multiple dementors. As the dementors lost a third of their number in a single blow, they panicked and fled.

Bellatrix screeched "Lucius, stop them, round them up. Oh no, help the giants, you fools. Shoot whatever you see."  
Unknown to the attackers, the patronus casters were drinking a magic potion that would instantly replenish their mental energy reserves.

As the giants fell to the ground, they tried to tear apart the tentacles. The move was calculated. Grawp the giant came running from another side, but he was not needed. The hundreds of animated armour suits and statues of Hogwarts, from the winged boars at the gates to the gargoyle of headmasters office suddenly appeared out of thin air (obviously by some magic) and began to viciously attack the giants. Grawp took a club from one and tried to hit them. In the end, two of them were killed while another two barely ran away from the grounds in panic.

The Death Eaters tried to help the giants by casting reductor curses directed at the animated statues, but it was not easy. First, jinxes were now coming from the castle peripheries and upper windows in torrents, they had to hastily put up shields.

Bellatrix shrieked again "Cissy, you stop the giants and tell them to wait in the clearing. Forward, you idiots. Hit anything that moves. No mercy, kill or blast anything that comes in front. Need I tell you to be on guard?"  
The Death Eaters now directly walked to the castle ground, with silvery shields up in front and air-cushion charms beneath feet, precautions against what tricks have already been played. They began to rain reductor curses indiscriminately, causing the protective shields to glow yellow and vanish, then fragments appeared in the outer walls, shaking the castle. The statues had pulled back, the defenders were quiet.

The Death Eaters were happy, they felt that the defenders had retreated sensing defeat.  
However, as they poured to the grounds, the next layers of nasty traps were activated.

As large numbers poured to the slanting ground, two things happened one after another. The ground shook again, but no earthquake this time. The ground began to reshape, the smooth lawn changed to a treacherous field of boulders, spikes and holes. The attackers were prepared, so quickly performed self-levitation spells but then the second trap activated. A powerful tornado was formed in the courtyard and it began to flung the attackers mercilessly towards the Whomping willow, whose magically strengthened branches simply beat the unfortunate bodies to pulp.

Some quick-thinking men did perform the countercharm to the tornado and set the tree on fire, but it had done serious damage by then.  
Bellatrix looked at the statues standing quietly and had a brainwave. She shouted "shatter the rune-stones, they may have more inscribed spells. Ignore the statues, they cannot hit us from far. After the stones, send spells at the windows and in between the statues, the wand-carriers are hidden disillusioned there, I can bet my life on it. They are more danger to us right now."  
The duelists were waiting tensely. There was another set of spells proposed to be inscribed on stones, which would summon tsunami-like waves from the lake and hit the grounds, then spawn thunderstorms, but turned down as it would endanger the merpeople and the squid.

Now, direct combat would begin


	2. Chapter 2: snapshots

DISCLAIMER- I don't own anything.

The Death Eaters who went to Hogwarts apparated to the secret hideout, to their master.

Lord Voldemort looked at his men and the young boy "Well, so our little plan had been successful." And even as he spoke, he looked into the eyes of Fenrir.

Bellatrix laughed "A major victory for us, my Lord. The most dangerous enemy has been killed and that little pest is the only hope for those fools. We need a celebration."

The mind of Voldemort had probed Fenrir's memory of the incident and was not so happy. Something had definitely been wrong. The mission had gone too smoothly. The men had laid the trap, Dumbledore had ventured into the tower and had been killed. Till the run to outside the grounds, there was not a single resistance. Only when Gibbon set Hagrid's hut on fire did the oaf burst out swearing.

However, he had other concerns now, so the worry was banished to a corner of the mind.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry and his two friends looked at the holed up members of the DA gang.

Parvati Patil first spoke out of curiosity "Harry, why were you three camping out in the woods? We all thought the Order had secured you in a house kept under the Fidelius. They did come here regularly but we could not believe them."

"They were telling the truth, my friend. We had escaped from Bill's wedding and were staying in a house in London under that charm. But, they were dangerous and desperate. The other two adjacent houses in that row were burned down using streams of Fiendfire. Our nest could not escape the mayhem. The Muggle authorities were scared of the incident."

Hermione spoke "We knew that Snape was actually were on our side, the mad Death eaters could not even guess why their mission to kill Dumbledore went so smoothly. He had to show himself loyal to the Lord. Was he hard on you lot?"

Neville spoke "He was playing a brilliant game. When I and the 2 girls tried to steal the sword, he took us to his office and told us a lot. He tried to save a lot of students from the Carrow goons by giving detentions, better than getting punished by them. Amycus Carrow teaches like Umbridge, actually nothing but gives private lessons to Malfoy and his two goons."

Colin Creevey spoke "He showed us how to think like a Slytherin at times. Harry, there are more members of our gang out there, snape told us and the teachers not to rebel openly. But he checks in now and then on us. The Order members have taught us all the basic elements of serious dueling and we practice regularly."

"you know proper dueling?" asked Hermione with disbelief in her voice.

"yeah, and we practice hard. All the elements- Non-verbal spells first, plus non-linear and shaped spells, constant mobility, camouflage and decoys, occlumency shields, the plus seris rule and the home field advantage."

"And we don't fear anybody now because the woman whom everybody assumes to be the spirit of Hogwarts and few believe in now meets us. Snape can sit in the Headmaster's office only because she allows him to. Remember Umbridge could not?" said another student.

The three friends eyes widened in surprise. Hermione blurted out "Who is that?"

The ghost of a middle-aged woman, somewhat plump and blond, dressed in a old-fashioned gown glided through the crowd and smiled at the trio, looking at them kindly through large brown eyes and waved a hand.

Someone said "Meet the first Headmistress of Hogwarts, Helga Hufflepuff."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Harry looked at the huge number of people who had come through the secret hole. He was delighted to meet his old Quidditch team and the members of the Order and many more, and all were eager to fight. He felt a tinge of worry about the results, but few others were.

He looked at Parvati, who was doing something strange. She had taken off her shoes, wore her hair loose and Padma was applying some black paint to her face. Then, Padma began to chant something quietly, Parvati stood still with downcast eyes.

Harry strode over to the twins, but before he could talk, Padma gestured him to stay quiet.

He however spoke in a low voice "what did you do to her?"

" A little trick from our old homeland, does not work on me. Nearest equivalent in English language is berserk state. Don't speak to her now Harry, she will now understand only one thing now- whom to attack and whom to ignore."

He strode over to Cho and Cedric. Cho was doing something he had never seen before. Her eyes were blazing blue and she was prodding a huge block of stone that she had levitated into the room with her wand. The block was slowly changing shape, an outline of a serpentine dragon was being formed on it slowly. He turned to Cedric "Do you two have to come?"

"I failed you once, Harry. When that fraud transported us to the graveyard via the portkey, I acted like a coward. I left a junior student in an unknown place and apparated away out of knee-jerk panic. I could never forgive myself."

Helga Hufflepuff glided over and spoke in her strange archaic accent "don't be like that, boy. I will be at the Head office and do a few things to help the defenders. You come to assist me, no arguing. There is no reason to worry about your fiancé, she will control the beast by thought and see through it's eyes."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Voldemort looked at Snape and said in a cold tone "After how you failed me, consider this merciful. But if you don't die, the Elder wand wouldn't serve me properly. Think how fortunate you were to have served me."

As Snape lay under the body-bind curse, poisoned and bleeding, he could not believe himself as the three friends came into view, putting aside the cloak of invisibility.

"Run away, Potter. There is nothing you can do now."

Hermione stepped forward with her handbag, a determined look on her face.

" I can save you, sir and will do that. Ron, take out the snake venom antidote."

Her wand began to transfigure a portion of the wooden floor into bandage.


	3. Chapter 3: inside

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

The battle of Hogwarts continues in this chapter.

The Slytherins were basically kept in their dungeon, a house elf was sent to convey the message "one severed head per attack" but it was actually useless. The Death Eaters were determined to attack, and the idea of hissing, if not biting did not hold against them.

The actual combat now began. Bellatrix could see the huge number of animated statues and armour suits, it would not take much brains to guess that the defenders were standing in between the gaps, disillusioned. The visible castle windows were also empty, but seemingly.

But after the beating her commanded forces took already, she was wondering how so much defence was put in place and what lay ahead, but not a problem for the Death Eaters.

She ordered "Fiendfire balls at the windows, serpentines in between the statues. Hit the statues with reductor spells after that. Front row, put up shields."

The massive The mass of death eaters suddenly had shimmering shields at the front while massive balls of flame shot up towards the windows, massive flaming serpents crawled between the statues, while reductor curses began to hit the animated things. At the same time, a barrage of spells hit the attackers from the windows and in between the statues, but only once. The defenders had to retreat in front of the powerful attack.

The attack was only a temporary success. Within the castle, the balls of flame were extinguished easily by withdrawing air from the selected rooms while in the ground, absence of fuel cannot sustain it for very long. The statues were not simply target practice for reductor curse casters, they were masterpieces of goblin magic and not unsupported either.

The Goblins had worked on the armour and statues of Hogwarts because they knew that if the other side wins, their conditions would be worse. The automatons were made with pre-fragmented material and had a shield charm protection plus self-healing enchantment as well. When hit, they may withstand some spells, then break down and then self-repair again. On top of that, their weapons were not only for close combat, but had momentum transfer spells on them. The Death Eaters were completely taken by surprise when blue-white lights from the weapons began to hit them hard.

To top it, the transfigured desks and benches of the castle, now having humanoid shapes, plus strengthened with surface hardening and flame-repellent flames began to leap down the inner walls in dozens and began to attack the Death eaters, moving with very high speed. In the chaos that broke out in the grounds, defenders continuously shot spells from the windows and the entrance to the castle.

Only after a bone-crushing fight, did the attackers reduce the attacking automatons to dust and ash and they managed to reach the Entrance Hall, to find it strangely empty, or to be precise- totally empty, with not even a torch burning. Only the large entrance to the Great Hall had a heavy metallic door.

Bellatrix gestured the fighters to halt and instructed "probing spells. Check out this room for anything- disillusioned or cloaked people, inscribed runes and sigils, anything."

A few of them cast probing lights, to find the place absolutely ordinary. Any sign of magic was the general portkey and apparition-resistant jinx present not only in Hogwarts, but almost all wizard homes. She laughed wildly from glee, a few joined her but softly.

"They thought that a silly door can stop us, after what they threw at us in the grounds and we overcame. Transfigure stone shields from the ground in front, stay behind it in case there is any surprise. Smash the door and melt the fragments a little in case there is any self-repair charms and other tricks."

The attackers did as instructed, a barrage of reductor curses hit the door. It was an ordinary heavy metallic door, only covered with a protective hive-pattern shield charm and magically strengthened, but not enough to stop the Death eaters more than a few moments.

The door blasted to rubble, the cautious attackers even applied Fiedfire a little as safeguard.

As the mess cleared, not only Bellatrix but also a few more noticed a lone figure standing beyond the door. The boy was none other than Harry Potter, green eyes staring at them, but with an amused look on his face. Bellatrix's mind screamed "Polyjuice potion maybe."

Harry Potter, as it seemed, was not carrying a wand. He raised his hands in the air and said "Here I am. Check out if I am a polyjuice decoy or an illusion. Cannot risk killing me, no? Your hypocrite Lord Voldy needs me alive, thugs."

Bellatrix looked at the boy with mad, rolling eyes and screeched "Filthy half-blood, feel the Cruciatus before we present you to the Lord. Stun and seize him, you idiots. I myself will cut his tongue with a knife."

Harry, as it really was, turned and ran. Bellatrix stood a little as a few ran after harry, firing stunning spells at him. Within a few seconds, it became clear that it was not so simple. He was wearing a hooded jacket and the stunners simply bounced off the surface. The Death Eaters chased after him in frenzy, only to realize a little later that they have run into a trap. The Great Hall beyond was seemingly normal, with lighted torches but prepared to face the attackers.

When Harry had run too fast in a short time, but possible with help of a potion, Fawkes the phoenix simply swooped down on him from above, both vanishing in a burst of flames.

Too many things happened for the Death Eaters to comprehend first. The stone floor began to vibrate, but very feebly. The attention was diverted and before the attackers could even look at the five large metallic "doors" that were simply kept standing in the middle of the hall, the structures distintegrated with loud blasts.

The "doors" were actually deadly traps, turning into a deadly flechette storm of sharp metallic shapes carrying high-penetration enchantments.

If it was not dangerous enough, there was more. The stone torches were not simply burning, they were also changed, runes were inscribed on the edges. The flames suddenly changed into flaming serpentine dragons and charged at the attackers with high velocity.

The transfigured trolls ran out of the doors surrounding the hall and charged viciously with spiked clubs.

To top it all, there were many ledges around the walls on which the defenders, aided by smart portkeys, appeared and vanished, firing spells at the Death eaters.

Overcoming the hurdles and smashing the trolls, the Death eaters now faced the actual combatants, only to face worthy opponents. There were far more people than a few foolhardy holed up students, some students were loyal to the DA but not openly opposing the Carrows, the Order of the Phoenix and many alumni of the school had turned up somehow.

Bellatrix made sure that her Lord's followers knew how to duel, but they were not the only side. The Carrows made sure that the students were not taught anything useful, apart from giving private lessons to a few Slytherins, but not only the older defenders, but the students turned out to be skilled, powerful opponents.

The unforgivable curses were not really useful in combat, they require focus and can be useful only for one at a time. The older defenders and students both fought back with every possible knowledge of dueling- non-verbal spells, non-linear and shaped spells, high mobility, occlumency shield, disillusionment charms along with substance and shimmer decoys as well as applying the home-field advantage and the plus seris with keep hitting rule.

Harry was amazed to see how some of his own friends fought. In one place, three of them were facing off against five masked Death Eaters.

He could identify Parvati, but she seemed a different person. Her hair was disshelved, the look of pure fury in her face and the bone-chilling sound that escaped her lips made even his own skin shiver. It was not mere show, the spell that went out of her wand was like a thin bolt of lightning, hitting the terrorists taking the shape of a multipronged crackling whip. Padma was with her, it seemed she was helping her twin to control the powerful spell.

With them was Dean Thomas. The boy's skill with a pen and drawing was well known, but now he was silent but his wand moved ceaselessly in a seris of complicated motions, never stopping. Harry himself was wondering if he could face Dean in a duel.

Lavender Brown was narrowly saved. Fenrir had brought her down, slashed at her face and was about to bite her throat when Harry and his friends came over. Hermione was about to cast a spell but Sybill Trelawney brought down a crystal ball with high velocity right on Fenrir's head, knocking him cold. The quick thinking Hermione suddenly took out a sickle out of her pouch, trans-shaped it into a silver dart and thrust it into Fenrir's chest, killing the bloodthirsty monster.

She then looked up at the balcony and smiled "thanks, Professor. Levitate her up."

Another strong factor that was not considered were the castle ghosts. Except the Baron, all of them helped the defenders. Ghosts can do two things- they can pass through solid walls and secondly, they can possess people. The Death eaters can hit them with exorcism spells, but they simply travelled vertically, dropping on them from above or pushing up from below. The Death eaters were confused why their own men apparently turned on them, attacking them or standing idle in front of an adversary. When the host was knocked out, they simply possessed another.

The torches of the castle, with the stands magically strengthened against reductor curses burned blue when detecting hostile presence and shot tendrils of flame at the attackers. Even muggle scientists know that blue fire burns hotter than ordinary fire, so they were more dangerous. Though not as strong as the charm used by Gellert Grindelwald once, it was enough to repel the attackers and keep them busy with shields.

The moment a Death Eater fell, the wand was snapped. It caused enough panic amongst them.

To top it all, the first headmistress was sitting in the room of requirement, surveying the entire situation with the Marauder's map and reacting accordingly. She sent Fawkes to transport and drop people in an around the castle, taking them where they are needed. Plus she shook the grounds and controlled the moving and vanishing staircases to the defender's advantage, apart from the other defences.

Neville and Peeves were accompanying Professor Sprout to the greenhouses. Both of them collected pods of Snargaluff, which secrete strong acid and Tentacula, with spiny tendrils that wrap around people. Peeves flew fast around the castle, dropping those on the heads of Death eaters and Neville helped him.

Cho's transfigured, thought-controlled dragon gargoyle was small and did not breathe fire, but it flew all around attacking the Death Eaters physically, moving and turning very fast and being highly resistant to attacks.

The Death Eaters were maddened in the corridors when, apart from facing strong opponents, tendrils rose from the wall and floor to grab them, the floors changed to spikes, blue plasma balls formed in the air to shoot bolts at them or even the air was drawn out magically in select spaces, which could lead them to collapse. Not to mention when people would appear beyond them with a flash of fire, or vanish from front.

It was in the face of this severe resistance did Voldemort order his men to withdraw, plus issue a ceasefire and ultimatum, giving an hour.


	4. Chapter 4: Interlude II

CHAPTER 4- Snapshots

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

This chapter is a canon divergence, containing some snapshots.

 _At a clearing inside the Forbidden forest_

Lord Voldemort pointed his wand at his own throat and then spoke in an amplified voice "Attention, defenders of Hogwarts. You have fought valiantly, along with the help of the castle defences but do not make the mistake that you have won. Lord Voldemort values bravery, so I am giving you a second chance to surrender Harry Potter. You have an hour to treat your injured and dispose of your fallen. After that, I will myself lead the assault on you. Then the little kids will know and the elder ones will remember why I am feared. I will show no mercy unless Potter is surrendered within an hour. One more warning, I have posted two of my men on a broomstick patrol, watching the grounds, so do not try to repair any rubble or put any enchantment on the grounds, that will be treated as hostile and you will regret it."

He paused a moment, then continued "I am now directly talking to you, Potter pest. It's true that you have proved yourself a big trouble, but if you value the lives of others, come to me at my camp. You have already seen what my followers can do even without me. If you keep hiding, more will die. If you surrender, I promise you that I will not kill anybody else and will also give you a quick, painless death. The hour to choose begins right now. Follow the blue glow from the forest to come to my camp . I am waiting."

He then lifted the voice amplification spell, looked at his army at spoke in a calm voice "Treat yourself. There are spare dragon-heartstring wands for who have lost their own ones, those who need the elixir potion for healing take it. Hope anybody does not need more? The casualties are part of a battle, so do not mourn the fallen atleast now."

Someone was however frantic "Lord, it was very hard. You know how they fought."

"Calm yourselves. The boy cares too much for others. What I said will impact him."

Everybody nodded, the Lord became silent.

 _Edge of the Great lake_

Hermione looked at Harry with fear and said "Harry, you are not going to surrender, are you?"

Ron had gone very white at the issue of the warning.

Harry shook his head "I have better plans, let me begin. Ron, send a patronus message to Neville, telling him just this- Neville, there is a large snake that always accompany the Lord. If he is to be defeated, the snake has to be killed. Be careful, it can be protected."

He turned to his other friend "Hermione, a quick light bending bubble and sound containing charm right here to hide what we are doing. Let me prepare the present I will send him."

As his friends raised their wands and did what they were told, Harry began his work.

Neville received his message and the trio vanished from view by Hermione's magic.

The magic he planned to do was complex, but necessary. He created a human-shaped pit on the ground and issued instructions to Hermione "we need this pit to be filled with water, without anybody noticing. Hermione, can we summon water from the lake?"

She nodded and pulled out a pair of identical-looking crystal bowls from her bag. She flung one into the lake and made a pouring gesture on the pit with the other one. Water began to flow out of the bowl, filling up the pit.

Ron's eyes widened with wonder and he blurted out "How can you do that?"

Hermione did not look back and said "you never studied Runes, Ronald. I did a small project."

Harry was busy too. He pointed his wand at the ground, transfiguring small portion into various things. A rather large amount of soot was formed, along with some lime, red phosphorus and iron. He dropped everything into the pit, which was now full of water.

He then pointed his wand at the pit and said "you two, grab my wand arm to lend some power. This is a complex transfiguration."

The spell he said was immensely complex, but a flash of light did hit the water and it began to change into a definite shape almost immediately.

He looked at Hermione and said "one set of my spare clothes, quick. And Hermione, this is my dummy I am creating, not Ron's."

Hermione blushed a deep red and looked away.

Ron was still puzzled and asked Harry "Mate, what are you doing?"

"Creating a false Harry out of the things that mostly make up a human body. Study some muggle science, mate. Not perfect, but will do what I want to."

Soon enough, one more Harry Potter was lying in the pit, with the faint scar visible too. Harry made a gash in his left palm and dropped some blood in the dummy, it blinked and stood up, though with a vacant expression it it's face.

"completed. I will see through it's eyes, speak through it's lips. You two, go inside the hall and join the rest, say I am missing. When he comes, do not come to the front."

He then said "Elridge, can you hear me?"

The head elf of the Hogwarts kitchen popped up and bowed to Harry "Yes, Potter sir?"

"You know what to do? Good, and when you will do that, keep your mouth shut. If Dobby talked less, he would have been alive today."

Elridge began to say "Dobby had bad masters, sir. For us.."

Harry cut him off with a gesture "we can discuss that later. Go now."

Elridge bowed again and vanished. Harry had to keep his mind clear of house-elves - rebel Dobby, slave Winky, creepy Kreacher and the maniac Hogwarts elves may be ignored for now.

The real Harry put on his invisibility cloak and vanished. The false Harry continued to walk a bit like a wooden puppet, but walked straight into the forest.

 _The Great hall, Hogwarts_

The survivors were scattered in small groups. Lee Jordan was near the Weasley family, who were in a strange situation. Percy Weasley had finally realized his mistake and joined his family, but killed. Now, the mother was holding her son's body in her arms, looking up and and crying silently, the rest of the family were ashen faced. Yet, while the body of Percy lay in his mother's arms, his silvery ghost was floating just above silently, stunned at it's new form but trying to reassure Mrs Weasley with a smile.

However, Lee heard a student say "this is the blood of Bellatrix Lestrange, I swear. She was hit in the face by a spell right here."

Lee looked at the blood spilled on the wall and summoned Angelian Johnson.

"Angie, this is the blood of You-know-who's right hand woman. We can.."

His sentence was cut short by a savage grin from Angelina "yes, she's in our hands. I do not give a damn that we will do some dark magic."

Tearing off a piece of cloth from his dress, Lee shaped it into a doll-like figure. Angelina tried to siphon off the blood from the wall with a spell.

Another final year student, with blue and bronze trimmings in his robes, had heard the warning, of not trying to repair the rubble of the protective armour outside. The extent they were damaged would make it hard, plus they were most likely watched. But he knew a trick from his homeland that could bypass this problem.

 _Outskirts of Hogsmeade_

Hagrid looked at the tall person covered in medieval-looking battle armour and said "Yeh sure that my beasts will be safe? Yeh are going to do a dangerous work."

The figure said "just do what I have told you. Dumbledore had asked for this at an European meet long ago. You just stick to the plan, we have thought it out."

Horace Slughorn looked on with worry "Are you sure it will work? Tom is dangerous."

The person looked at Slughorn "If the dark wizard is not stopped, the mainland will first get more refugees than what we are already facing and then terror attacks. We will not sit idle at this opportunity to root out the problem. Just remember, what were the things we asked each of you to do, and do that. This will be the "

 _The Forbidden Forest_

A lone figure walked out of the trees "I have come as you wished."

The Death Eaters stared for a moment, then cheered loudly, but their Lord was silent.

Lord Voldemort kept his promise. He looked on a moment, then pointed his wand at the figure of Harry Potter, the boy fell down within an eyeblink and lay still.

Bellatrix rushed over and slit the throat of Harry, cackling "to be double sure, my lord."

Voldemort looked at the trickle of blood pouring from the boy's throat, nodded and then amplified his voice "attention, defenders of Hogwarts. Your beloved savior who was hiding behind you lies dead at my feet. Now, come out of the castle and see for yourself. You will be spared if you do not offer any futile resistance. See the future leaders of Britain."

He waved his wand at a tree, a wooden stake formed out of it, the rest of the thing falling to the ground. A second wave, the lifeless figure of Harry levitated to it in a vertical position. A third wave, thick ropes rose out of the ground and bound the body tightly.

He faced a giant "carry this thing. When we will reach the castle, the stake will be driven to the ground and then set on fire. Save your enthusiasm, Bella."

The hard faces of the massive humanoids burst into smiles.

He turned to the men "we can show our faces to all now, the fools need to know the future rulers. Gather up all of us, including the snatchers who proved themselves. The dementors will stand guard at the rear if anyone tries to attack us through the village or forest."

A shower of sparks shot up in celebration.

A Death Eater spotted a centaur peeking through the trees and shouted "Get lost, half-breed."

Someone pointed his wand and shot a stinging hex through the gap, a scream of pain told him that it had hit the target.

Lord Voldemort extinguished the magical blue fire, the wand tips of the Death eaters illuminated. He also dismantled the magical protection of Nagini, it was no longer needed.


	5. Chapter 5: Enemy vanquished

CHAPTER 5- Enemy vanquished

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

Warning- this chapter contains blood and gore

A distinct sound, like the babble of many voices could be heard from the forest.

Hidden in his cloak and standing in a corner of the castle grounds, Harry could clearly see the victory procession coming towards the castle grounds, the giants were visible from far. The sky was beginning to clear, dawn was approaching.

It was a large number of people, even though many were felled by the defenders and the defences of the castle. Their hoods were no more, so the faces could be seen. At the very head was Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix to his right. The two surviving giants were at the flanks, one of them was carrying his dummy, which had bled enough to wet the clothes.

The surviving defenders of the castle came out, many of them were in shock.

Harry could see Parvati. Though her face was still smeared with black paint, she was looking normal now. Cho was present too, but her eyes were normal and the thought-controlled dragon gargoyle was nowhere to be seen. Ron and Hermione could not be seen.

A few ghosts were floating above too. Neville was the sole one who stepped forward and tried to speak in defiance, to get hit by a stunning spell right in the face.

To be on guard, Voldemort had sent out a legilimency probe. The people were sad and in a sate of shock, it could be seen from their faces, a sweeping peek into most of their minds confirmed that. He had spoken some truth in the fact that the grounds were being watched, three cloaked people came down in broomsticks, lifting their disillusionment charms.

Voldemort now looked at Professor McGonagall "you people had warned that the Slytherins were hostage, you would send a severed head regularly. Lucky you that you didn't, I would have demanded blood payment. Also, I hope that you have captured a few of my men in combat, they are alive too. I hope that the Carrows are alive and well?"

"They're just stunned and locked up, nothing further has been done."

Voldemort said "Good for you and bad for them. You know, I do not think that you people can do what I or my men can. Actually, I will punish those two in public because they were fooled and knocked out by your lot. Get them later. You can hold a funeral for Snape too."

He then laughed and spoke to the crowd "now, two of the fools will burn together to teach you a lesson. Hope nobody will make any such mistake is future."

Neville was restrained by a body-bind curse, lying on the ground and the sorting hat, summoned by Voldemort from the Headmaster's office, placed on his head.

"I am disposing of a useless thing. This school will be re-named after my ancestor."

As Augusta Longbottom was injured, she could not witness the scene.

To Neville's side, the stake to which "Harry" was bound, was driven to the ground with force by a giant. Voldemort muttered "incendio", the hat and the clothes caught fire.

Voldemort could not see what was happening in the edge of castle, else he would have been alerted by now. He had posted the remaining 95 dementors at the edge of the castle to stand guard, they were doing accordingly. They had barely sensed something when hell broke loose.

A stream of arrows, each emitting a silver glow, shot out from the trees towards the dark creatures, hit them with deadly accuracy, each shot finding one target. They were special arrows with runes inscribed on them, fired by the centaurs. Each target's bones crumbled into dust in seconds, the empty cloaks of the dark creatures collapsed into the ground.

At almost the same time, a group of corporeal patronuses came galloping from the direction of Hogsmeade, each charging headfirst into one dementor, destroying them too.

Dementors are good prison guards, but fare poorly against a prepared opposition. The majority was wiped out within moments, the remaining tried to alert the Death eaters but a second stream of arrows cut down any creature that survived.

At the owlery tower, far from the eyes of any person present and never checked by the Carrows, the runes inscribed on the walls began to glow, flooding the owls with a strange light. When the light vanished, they were not the feather-covered birds anymore.

There would have been a rumbling sound if many muggles approached the castle, but wizards can take care of that by quietening charms. Also, the mobile light-circumbending or disillusion bubbles can hide small groups of people, not just a single person.

At the castle, Harry and the rest could sense too many things happening at once.

A sharp whistling sound was heard, a barrage of arrows, with special runes inscribed on them to amplify velocity and hence damage, hit the column of Death Eaters with very high speed, with a second barrage following a moment later. If some of the quick thinking men had not put up shields, the damage would have been severe. They got no respite as sound of hooves were heard and about 50 centaurs, all full-grown adults and clad in a studded leather armour galloped in from the forest and began attacking the Death eaters.

Yet, it was only one thing to bother Voldemort, more were happening.

A flock of broomsticks suddenly flew in from the direction of Hogsmeade.

Harry had never seen such a strange sight. The riders were clad in some sort of heavy armour, but Harry was sure those were goblin-made, hence much stronger and lighter. The brooms were unlike what he had ever seen. They were quite thick, and had a metallic luster on them and the oddest feature was they had two small wings on their sides. The shape of the broomsticks were odd, they somehow reminded Harry of the fighter jets he had seen in Dudley's computer games. They circled the Death Eaters and began to shoot powerful spells at them, hitting them hard.

Those were the wizards in battle gear, riding battle brooms and were sent from mainland Europe as an arrangement made long ago.

The giants were stunned for a moment, but Grawp came round the castle, drawing their attention. They roared and ran at him, only to get dozens of flying shapes flying straight at their eyes, trying to peck mercilessly. Harry was shocked at the brutality with which Grawp grabbed the giants at a time, smashed their heads against the wall of the castle and kicked the bodies into the lake, but he recalled a word of Hagrid's – this was normal for giants.

The "flying shapes" were recognized by Harry, they were the 15-odd Hippogriffs and 100-odd thestrals kept by Hagrid, but they seemed different. The Hippogriffs were undoubtedly put through some transfiguration, their frontal bodies and beaks were glittering like steel. The thestrals could be made out because of the faint shimmers in the air, else they were under disillusionment charms. As soon as the giants fell, they began to attack the Death Eaters.

A loud war cry was heard from the direction of Hogsmeade and the disillusionment bubbles lifted off hundreds of people who had come running from the village.

Harry could make out Charles Weasley, Hagrid and Horace Slughorn and behind them, Aberforth Dumbledore, Rosmerta and the residents of Hogsmeade, plus maybe the parents and families of students, but even more than just the human beings.

There were dozens of house elves running along the humans, looking angry and shouting "fight beside our masters, fellow elves. Fight to the death."

They were carrying kitchen pans as shields, with runes inscribed on them.

The pet krups and kneazles of the wizards were also running alongside, making angry sounds. They ordinarily look like cats and terriers, but they are magical polymorphs.

In the current situation, they had reached the size of lionesses and grey wolves, the faces were protected by some sort of metallic armour, the claws and teeth were not normal but transfigured to a material with steely luster and were running very fast

When they reached the Death eaters, the beasts simply tried to bite the throats.

There were owls flying along, screeching aggressively and their bodies seemed to have been transfigured the same way as the hippogriffs. One flock was flying above the heads of the crowd from Hogsmeade while another descended from the castle's owlery tower. They began to attack the Death eaters mercilessly with their steely beaks and claws.

Harry himself kept moving, hidden in his cloak and shot stunning spells directly into the faces of the Death Eaters, they crumbled and did not know what hit them, only to get trampled.

This force seemed to be pushing the Death Eaters and the defenders into the Great hall. The defenders were attacking too, encouraged by the new forces.

Voldemort's final horcrux was destroyed by a team of three. He himself had shown some brain and transfigured Nagini, essentially turning her outer body into tough, spell-resistant scale armour. The snake slithered along, ready to bite and fell into a trap.

Wizards don't use guns, which essentially fire high-velocity projectiles but have other means.

Ron came directly in front, hit the snake with a spell directly in its face. The result was nothing more than a metallic ringing sound, the creature rose aggressively, ready to strike.

At the same time, Neville used a spell learned years ago. He tapped a particularly sharp piece of fragment lying on the ground with his wand, muttered "waddiwasi" and aimed the wand directly at Nagini's eye, the weak point in the body. The piece shot forward with the force of a bullet, entering inside the head and turning the eye to a bloody mess. The large snake had just began to writhe in pain, when Neville said another incantation, the fragment inside the brain burst with the force of a bomb, turning the brain into a mushed mess.

A dark cloudy shape, with the bare outline of a screaming skeletal face at the top rose out of Nagini's head but Sir Nicholas, or Nick, suddenly rose out of the ground and pushed it high up in the air before it could find another host. The shape, which was making an un-earthly screaming sound turned into a silent glittering mass and vanished into nothingness.

Voldemort was firing spells, but the destruction of his horcrux caught his attention. With a scream of fury, he fired a lightning-like bolt at Neville. The boy quickly conjured up an embankment from the ground, almost immediately by a shield charm, but was yet thrown to the ground by the force. If he was directly hit, he would have burned to ashes.

He also shot an exorcism spell at Nicholas, but the ghost was ready and simply glided away.

Two factors were proving hard for the Death eaters and snatchers, apart from the numbers and the absence of their Lord. They were actually Flitwick and Aberforth Dumbledore. Those two were shocking in duel, simply felling one opponent within seconds, before moving to the next.

Two people acted more out of emotion, but did contribute to the fight.

Molly Weasley, her eyes blazing, charged towards Dolohov, the tormentor and killer of her brothers. The cruel face of Dolohov gave a sneer as he saw the simple woman, but only moments later he recalled that it took six of them to defeat her twin brothers. Her wand moved swiftly, hitting Dolohov with a barrage of spells, throwing him back.

Then a complex, continuous motion of her wand revealed a brutal scene. Dolohov's limbs severed from his body with a sickening sound, his eyes bulged with horror and pain at his own severed limbs and blood lying all around him.

He looked at Molly Weasley, who calmly said "I am merciful after what you did to my brothers."

She pointed her wand at Dolohov's head, it swelled and burst like a ballon.

For Hagrid, he was satisfied that his "pets" were acting properly and he charged at the person he had a grudge against, Walden Macnair. He ran at the person, who was trying to fight someone else and grabbed him. He thrashed the Death eater to the floor like a rag doll, then flung him across the hall. Macnair's head hit the wall and he collapsed in a bloody lump.

The Death eaters realized that if the reinforcements were pushing them towards the Great hall, they may better follow because the brooms and flying creatures could be left behind.

They were right, but the two-front attack had already felled many of them, now each of them had to face multiple opponents. To make it worse, a third front opened up.

The entrance towards the kitchen had the doors flung open, the house elves of Hogwarts joined the battle, led by Elridge. They were livid with hatred and rage, but kept silent as directed by Harry, simply aiming stunning spells at the crowd and tripping jinxes at their feet.

Some of the Death eaters tried to escape into the Slytherin dungeon, but the path was blocked by a wall of stone just a few steps away from the descending stairs. Also, three black-clad figures stood at the bottom of the stairs, hitting anyone who dared to come that way.

Soon, not a single Death eater was left standing. Voldemort and Bellatrix were missing, along with a few more on the side of the defenders. The crowd poured out to witness the epic scene unfolding on the bank of the lake, which Harry was already watching, hidden in his cloak.


	6. Chapter 6: Master and servant

CHAPTER 6- Master and servant

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

Warning- Bellatrix Lestrange will be brutally killed in this chapter, plus strong language.

Long chapter too. (Riddle and Bella deserve special mention, but maybe I backstabbed them.)

The reinforcements pushed the Death eaters and defenders alike towards the Great hall of Hogwarts, leaving behind a trail of blood and bodies. Yet, things did not go as planned.

Even in the earlier phase, the house elves were not used to move the fighters across Hogwarts, putting too much pressure on Fawkes. The anti-apparition wards of Hogwarts were modified to stop even elves, because it was feared that the Death eaters might use that to their advantage. Only two select elves of the kitchen had their aura recognized and allowed, none else. The others, unknown to the Carrows, had been put through a tough training by Snape for months, by practicing on both target dummies and wand-carrying wizards in kitchen premises.

Similarly, the smart portkeys were usable only to transport some fighters to the Great hall and back, they had the most unequal advantage over the attackers in that area. Apart from the Marauder's map, there was no way to get the real-time situation updates, but it was used brilliantly and the Death eaters had no such advantage.

Even in the present situation, Harry could see that the battle brooms were successful only in the periphery, those could not fly into the Hogwarts grounds. It was evident that brooms from outside could not fly inside the marked boundaries unless there was some special arrangements and there were none in the current situation.

Yet, the attack was so massive and effective that they were not needed anymore. The riders however descended outside the grounds, then walked inside with their wands raised. In fact, all the reinforcements could not even enter the hall, they were so numerous.

Voldemort tried to help his men by shooting spells but the death of Nagini caught his attention. He was angry when his snake was killed, but could not hit the boy or the ghost.

He was not sure who freed Neville from the body-bind or how stunning spells shot out of thin air to strike his men or from where the reinforcements came but that did not matter to him.

He had to face too much now, things kept on happening one after the other.

When the attack just began, Bellatrix was stunned only for a moment or two. She was just at Voldemort's left, so her master could see her. She actually laughed in glee, and then pointed her wand at the defenders. Yet, only a huge dragon's head made of flame had just come out of her wand when all went wrong.

She suddenly dropped her wand, fell on the ground and began to twitch horribly and scream, as if in terrible pain. In a freak accident, the "dragon's head" changed into a ball of flame due to lack of control and fell on her body, setting her clothes on fire. To top it all, as the ground was a gently sloping one, she rolled down right to the shore of the lake. The fall was enough to injure even a normal person, but she was in a worse shape and would have burnt to death.

However, Voldemort was there for his most faithful follower. He was surprised when the torment of Bellatrix began, but acted quickly. He pointed his wand at the lake, a small wave rose from the water and splashed the witch, dousing the flame. Yet, she was still in severe pain.

The sharp mind of Riddle made out what was happening, though it was only a guess. One image quickly flashed in his mind, Bellatrix wiping blood off her mouth- it made sense. He could see a glimpse of the Great hall, he pointed his wand in that way and shouted "ACCIO VODOO DOLL."

His guess was right. Moments later, a small doll made of cloth, stained with blood and with a few sharp fragments stuck to it came flying out over the heads of the crowd. He did not actually need the thing, only destroy it. One flick of his wand, the doll burst into flames.

At the lakeside, Bella felt the pain stopping. A second later, an invisible rope seemed to pull her up, depositing her at the feet of her Lord. Voldemort held out her wand "take it. Bad injury?"

"The fall hurt badly." She looked at her body, felt her face and said "the fire burnt only my clothes and hair, just partly. I am okay otherwise, my Lord."

A vertical wordless wave of her master's wand, all pain left Bellatrix within moments.

She screeched "find the bastard." However, before she could run towards the hall, a tripping hex hit her legs and almost immediately, another barrage of stunning spells hit her. Being a tough fighter, she had managed to throw up a shield, yet the shot was very powerful, throwing her off her feet and she again landed on the lakeside in a heap, though creating an air-cushion charm to prevent injury. Before either could react, the small group which was running towards them from the castle split into two.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hidden in his cloak, Harry could see everything. It was good that the most dangerous of the enemy and a strong one were separated from the rest and delayed for a short time. The Death eaters fell very fast at the overwhelming force, time meant a lot.

When Voldemort saved his follower, Harry tried to delay them even more and hence shot the spells. At the same time, a small group of people came out of the castle- the good side. While Bellatrix tried to get to her feet, Voldemort barely raised his wand at the approaching enemy.

Harry had fumbled in the left pocket of his trousers, it had an extension charm on it, though not as much as Hermione's bag. He had a few useful things stored in there; he thought those can prove valuable "gifts" for Voldemort if gifted in the right situation. He picked up the crystal ball that seemed to contain a shapeless white mist in it, apparently.

This "gift" would not hold Voldemort for very long, but it was worth a try. It had to be done quickly, while nobody was present nearby. He took out the ball in his left palm and pointed his wand a little in front of the evil man. The ball sailed through the air in a smooth arc and crashed to the ground loudly, just a few yards in front of Voldemort.

The sound stopped Voldemort and also the three people who were coming to duel him- Shacklebolt, McGonagall and Slughorn. The three were still a little distance away then.

The white mist rose from the ground, a "crack" and it changed to a person. Voldemort's eyes were widened in fear as the familiar, tall cloaked figure strode towards him.

With a hard face and eyes that seemed to radiate rage, Albus Dumbledore looked into the eyes of Voldemort and said "thought me dead, Tom? I have to kill you before I can find peace."

Voldemort was frozen in fear, but the other three fell silent too. The dark lord then spoke in a panicked voice "you were killed and buried last year, how can you be alive?"

Dumbledore did not reply and took a further step forward, staring into Voldemort's eyes.

The trick did not last long, just like Harry guessed. Voldemort suddenly gave a loud laugh, pointed his wand at Dumbledore and shouted "RIDDIKULUS." The figure fell down to the ground, stained in blood, eyes vacant and mouth gaping. A flick of wand, the immobile boggart burst into a dark cloud with a loud noise and vanished gradually.

The boggart did serve the purpose buy time. The three people spread out and attacked Voldemort, none wasted any time by exchanging any words.

Bellatrix had hardly gotten to her feet when Hermione, Ginny and Luna attacked her. In the meantime, more people were pouring out of the castle, along with the non-humans. It was a good sign, the fight inside was surely over.

Harry watched as Professor Flitwick came running to join the group attacking Voldemort, while a Ravenclaw student of his year came out and did something he had never seen before.

Harry was impressed at the way his three friends attacked Bellatrix, though he kept moving his eyes between the two scenes. The three girls were acting like what he would expect them. While attacking a strong enemy, the trick is to encircle him/her and divide attention. Fighting is not sports, so the question of fairness is absurd.

Hermione, with all her brilliance, had some special tricks. One was the twin-rune bowls, another was her "shoes of Mercury". The shoes had a pair of foldable small wings attached to it, plus a gravity-cancelling charm on the soles. It enabled the wearer to run fast and even over water, leap high into the air and even fall down from heights without any injury. Yet, Harry was amazed at how she attacked Bellatrix, though with Ginny and Luna.

She had put her hands around the waists of Ginny and Luna and jumped from higher ground towards Bellatrix. While they fell, the other two had their hands free and kept shooting spells at Bellatrix to keep her off guard. Ginny had a blank face, Hermione looked severe in her short hair and Luna seemed a different person with the dreamy look absent from her eyes.

When they touched ground, Hermione let go the two of them, pulled out her wand in one sweep and pointed it at Luna's head. Ginny directly began to duel Bellatrix, who had gotten up.

Normally, Ginny would stand 2-3 minutes if she alone dueled Bellatrix, but the other two were more than help. Luna was put under a disillusion charm and she went directly to Bellatrix's back, changing position as she continuously aimed stunners and trip hexes at the witch. Yet, it was nothing compared to the titanic effort put forward by Hermione.

Hermione always tried to keep herself in the semicircular area behind Bellatrix's back. She kept changing everything- position, stance and mode of attack.

One moment, she was crouching, standing the next, leaping high in third and kept running in the fourth as she kept firing spells. Bellatrix acted smart when she turned her backside towards the lake, but that could not deter Hermione, Luna just kept shooting spells from flanks and even did self-levitation spells to hop over the surface of water. Bellatrix, with all her skill, had never thought three teenagers can be so much trouble.

Even while trying to deal with a dueler in front and an invisible aid behind, Bella was driven mad by Hermione- a whirlwind spell would approach her from the right, followed by a lightning bolt from above, the ground beneath her feet would be almost hit by a transfiguration spell, a pebble on ground would approach her at high velocity or spells be directly aimed at her- it came in a continuous flow. Her wand, or her opponent's would not rest for a moment.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

For Voldemort, the scene was even more stunning. Kingsley had dueled Voldemort for a short time, before being replaced by one of the armoured wizards. The armour was goblin-made, thus much stronger and lighter than muggle creations, yet could be shattered by powerful spells, but Voldemort could not keep focus on one, he was so busy.

Kingsley was the only one who had attacked Voldemort directly, but to help others. The others were more mature and had kept in mind another rule of combat apart from encircling a powerful opponent; don't engage an enemy directly if you can avoid it.

Harry was pleasantly surprised when Slughorn came back, but the most unexpected person who did anything was Anthony Goldstein from his own year. He was curious when the Ravenclaw came running out, pointing his wand at the rubble of the statues lying in the grounds and saying a complex incantation in a language that was definitely not Latin.

The effect of the spell was amazing. The rubble on the ground began to stick together and form a shape- a huge manticore. Not the perfect beast, but a very close likeness.

As the eyes of the beast glowed blue and it pawed the ground, Anthony kept repeating the spell and more figures formed out of rubble, though quicker- a serpent the size of a huge python, an acromantula and a harpy. A complex, yet fluid movement of the wand and the creatures encircled and attacked Voldemort in their own ways of moving.

Though Voldemort was evil, it was a spectacle at how he stood his ground. He was a powerful wizard, but not omnipotent, though the wand never stopped.

Harry could suddenly sense movement at the edge of the Forbidden forest. He turned to see an amazing scene but focused again on the two spectacular duels.

Harry kept his eyes moving between the two duels involving master and loyal servant, in fact enjoying both and wondering whom he would help, if help at all. The crowd spilling out of the castle was seeing it too. If Bella was facing three, her master was facing five.

The armoured wizard was in his front and dueling directly, the others were a little away and attacking indirectly with their magical skills.

McGonagall was transfiguring the ground, aided by Horace Slughorn.

Thick, long tentacles had risen from the ground from four sides, swaying aggressively. Those tried to lash out at Voldemort from all sides. The moment those were blasted away by him, they swayed back and regrew within moments to attack again.

Meanwhile, thin filaments grew from the ground beneath his feet and behind his back, trying to grab both his body and limbs to pull him down- he used strong cutting charms against those but it was needed continuously, those too kept growing back at a maddening rate.

Anthony Goldstein was directing his creatures like the conductor of an orchestra.

The "animals" formed out of the rubble were trying to lash out from all angles. The moment they were blasted back and deformed with strong spells, they just stood a little away. The fragments did not fall apart but simply stuck back to the original shape and they attacked again.

Professor Flitwick was trying to do multiple things at once, maybe succeeding too.

He had created a small pile of pebbles from the ground and charmed it. It would shoot towards Voldemort with the force of a shotgun blast and when blocked, would drop and crawl along the ground, settle in a different space and attack again suddenly. It seemed less a pile of rubble and more a living creature.

A dazzling white ball of light, the size a quaffle was floating all around Voldemort at a height of roughly 15 feet from the ground, shooting lightning bolts every now and then.

A large blue fire was burning on bare ground. From it, small blue flaming dragons and eagles were flying out, trying to rush into Voldemort from the flanks.

The powerful wizard could not continuously fight but found out a method to obtain brief moments of respite. He would encase himself in a dome of earth, but crumble it before anyone could think of a method to turn that into a trap or blast it down.

Harry was wondering if too many cooks were spoiling the broth.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The dreaded incantation was not heard as it was non-verbal, but all saw the blinding green light and heard the sound of speeding death- Ginny Weasley was thrown to the ground as the killing curse almost hit her, fired by a mad, savage Bellatrix.

"NO, NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU FILTH."

Molly Weasley charged forward, aiming her wand. Both sides fired spells. Hermione was there, some more tried to come but Molly shouted "no help anybody. This is between two of us."

Bellatrix was cackling and put on a baby voice "the sow mommy cares for her litter. How sad, one boy gone and mummy to follow. Who will look after the pig-sty?"

She was confident of her skill as she casually deflected Molly's spells, not realizing that a trap was being laid. Molly fired a linear non-verbal spell, Bella tried to deflect it too, but the silvery blob of light suddenly maneuvered in the path, changed into a silvery hand, grabbed a surprised Bella's wand and flung it away from the latter.

Bellatrix flashed her teeth savagely "want to kill an unarmed opponent, Gryffindor?"

Molly dropped her wand and stepped forward "I can kill you with my bare hands."

Bellatrix cackled again and said "I have no wand, but have my pretty toy."

She, with a single movement of her hand, took out a spiked whip she carried in a pouch tied to her waist and lashed out at Molly. The aim was good, it hit Molly sharply twice in face, causing the short, plump woman to stagger backwards in pain.

Bellatrix laughed madly at Molly "where is your litter to help your fat butt, mummy sow?"

Molly's husband and sons had pointed their wands at Bella, but she herself gestured them to stop. Her face had suddenly gone vacant, recalling something she had almost forgotten.

Many years ago, Molly had gone on a tour to eastern USA with her brothers. At the American school of magic there, Ilvermorny, she had impressed a Native American teacher, who taught her a magic "that would complete her person." She had succeeded to accept it, a magic different from the European Animagus. She could feel that magic rising up just now after years, the emotion flooding through all of her body.

Molly smiled at Bella and spoke in a calm voice "I am not a mamma sow, see it before going to hell."

Both Harry and Bella saw for a brief moment that Molly Weasley's canine teeth seemed to elongate, a glint was seen in her eyes. A savage sound escaped from Molly's lips, the clothes ripped away from her body- but it was not a human body anymore. Where stood the short red-haired woman, a ferocious brown bear was visible standing on all fours.

The mamma bear rushed at Bella who was stunned at the event. A swipe of the fearful claws, Bella's right hand was almost torn away from the body, dangling in a limp way. The beast mercilessly clawed at the belly of the victim, tearing away the entrails. Bellatrix fell to the ground and had just given a cry of pain when her head was caught in the jaws of the bear, ripped away from the body with a sickening sound and spitted on the ground.

"BELLA! NOOO."

Voldemort's fury at the fall of his most trusted follower exploded with the force of a bomb, throwing away everything and everybody nearby. He pointed his wand at the bear, but a voice suddenly shouted an incantation, raising a thick, small wall from the ground in front of the bear, and a second later the wall changed to stone.


	7. Chapter 7: revelation and face-off

CHAPTER 6- Master and servant

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

WARNING- contains nudity.

Harry felt no reason to make the incantations non-verbal.

He had taken out another "gift" for Voldemort, which looked like a medallion with a chain and had wrapped it around his left palm. He put up a stone wall verbally between Voldemort and Mrs Weasley and took off his cloak, though keeping the wand in a combat-ready position.

As he emerged out, there were screams from the crowd "He's alive!" and "Harry!"

Voldemort was surprised and shouted out in frustration "Again, YOU PEST!"

Harry sneered "Yes, Tom Riddle. I sent a transfigured dummy to you, you and your goons couldn't tell the difference. Of course, your stupidity has many more examples and will be remembered in history, I will make sure of it after you leave the world for good."

Looking at the enraged serpentine face, he continued "Aren't you happy to see me, you half-blood champion of blood purity? After all, you are from the line of the middle Peverell and I the youngest, we are blood relatives after all."

"You are a part of the diseased family trees that have to be trimmed and I will do it."

"Of course you dream of it, there are no followers or hired thugs of you left, so sad your dreams crumbled within a few minutes, Tom Riddle. You always dreamt and spoke nonsense."

Ron suddenly shouted from the crowd "how many to help you finish, Harry?"

Harry shouted back "I don't need anybody's help, I can finish this snake myself."

"Potter doesn't mean it, does he?" sneered Voldemort "he is just a rat who managed to hide. Behind whom will you want to hide today?"

"It's just you and me, no more horcruxes left, which were easy to spot because of your extra large ego. Though it is another example of your stupidity. I myself was your final horcrux that you accidentally made, so actually you had more reason to protect me than anyone else."

"LIAR!" screamed the Dark Lord.

"Oh no, face the truth. You had a very wrong notion that you could access my mind and even possess me because I was weak. Actually it was due to your piece of soul inside. Don't cry over spilt milk, even a muggle knows that an exorcism ritual can take care of it."

"Forget it and face me now to know what I am. Your mudblood mother or anybody else is not here to die for you as you wish, Potter."

"My muggleborn mother died for me, but what of you? Your inbred mother could not be alive for you. I will live, you are the last of your ancestor's line that perished due to inbreeding."

"You are a boy who lived by accident all times, Potter."

This time, not Harry but Cedric shouted from the crowd "You are the one who came back by accident, Voldemort. I had panicked and apparated away from the graveyard that night, else your overgrown pet rat would not have been successful."

Voldemort laughed "I would have ordered him there to kill the spare, you were a lucky boy."

"How clever of you! He was walking and not even under a disillusionment charm. I would have heard it, seen him raise a wand and stood like a static practice dummy, you think so?"

Voldemort ignored Cedric turned his attention back to Harry "Do you have any hope to defeat me? You think that Dubmledore's pathetic idea of love will work against me?"

"No, I have no wish to see if I can hug and kiss a serpent like you to death. Nor would I try to transfigure you into Saint Thomas. There are other things that I know of, but you don't. You are not the ruler of Britain but a trapped criminal now."

"You think so? I cannot get away after killing you and return with new followers to burn the magical community and then muggles of this land to ashes, you think that's impossible?"

"Tall castles built in the air, but you lived in a fantasy world. Can't you see the obvious truth? You cannot fly, apparate, floo or portkey away from this ground. And how many will you kill, can you count how many surround us and have you seen the forest yet?"

Voldemort felt fear now and looked towards the forest. Apart from the wizards, elves, familiar animals, a giant and centaurs in the castle premises, the edge of the forest showed a vast assembled crowd. The malevolent beings were absent but it did not matter. There were the wood folk and their tamed beasts- wood elves, ghillies, green hounds and many more- deemed to be the myths of the Scottish highlands by muggles.

He laughed a cold laugh "you think anyone will come forward to die for you today?"

This time, the armoured wizard who was dueling him stepped forward. He tapped the visor of his headgear and it dissolved away, revealing a thin, pink face.

The man spoke in accented English "We are a hit squad sent from the mainland to stop you, dark wizard. Your men destroy this island and you thought we sit idle and wait for you to overrun this land and focus on mainland Europe? Already, there have been a few fools inspired by your propaganda and many refugees have crossed the channel, alerting the continent."

That was actually a clever decision on the part of the continental wizards. If they sent any large force, it would have been easily spotted and the Death eaters would be alerted. This small but elite force were sent after a spy reported that vast majority of the British mages were not Death Eaters, plus only a few hundred were working for money. ssess the sitily spotted. this ds. if now., vacant expressions in their faces.

"After I kill the boy, I will show you I am better than all of you."

"I am not here to die. Before you leave, I may expose what a liar you are. You spared everyone except me? I will help you to feel some remorse at your last moments. Myrtle, Hagrid, Zachary, Susan- come forward and let him see you all."

Three solid people and a ghost came forward, without any look of fear on their faces.

Voldemort was puzzled but Harry sneered "They do not seem familiar to you? This ghost is the girl whom you killed by setting your ancestor's pet snake on her, placing the blame on someone else. This boy is whose ancestor you poisoned and put the blame on a poor elf, you criminal. This girl is whose entire family your goons killed. None were related to me."

"You think I fear them? You know I am the greatest."

"Oh? That is why you always stayed hidden from the Aurors? You come to the open and see what happened to your dreams, you must feel fear now."

"No, Potter. The only person I feared was taken care of long ago."

"He was a better person than at least you and survived after facing you, right?"

"That did not stop him from his blindness. I had a student who managed to sneak in my men into the castle and his beloved spy threw him off the tower like a piece of china."

"That's your mistake. He had planned his own death long ago. Honestly, don't you have any brains? You don't know that Dumbledore was good at keeping people in the dark and manipulating them? Didn't your men report that they ran into virtually no opposition that night? It was planned and everybody stayed in their rooms, locked in and away from the path that Snape used to lead them away from the castle."

The puzzle that did haunt Voldemort was answered at last, but he brushed it away. He tried to speak coldly "Do you think that Snape worked for Dumbledore?"

"Always. You never knew that a head can access the resident tower only when a higher authority allows him or her? She allowed Snape to reside there, the first headmistress of this school- yes, she is still here. Of course, your followers are mostly brainless."

"What makes you think so, Potter?"

"The Carrows are a pair of thugs who could not see that so many students were joining the DA club and the teachers placing protections were under their very nose. The rest of you have bad brains. The people your cronies reduced to beggars in Diagon Alley were thrown out to the muggle world, but your men never bothered to check whether they were really there or taken to the mainland to raise an army. Your men attacked this castle thinking I have come here and been reckless to take off my cloak? They were provoked and must have not realized what they would face. Did your men ever realize that the men guarding Hogsmeade did not turn up? Not to say of your poor victory procession that was good for practicing massacre."

"Snape had betrayed me?" there was anger and confusion in Voldemort's voice. He could now understand why the attack on the castle faced unexpected resistance.

"Yes, he had felt for a long time that treating people like vermin was wrong. After Mulciber half-heard the prophecy and told it to you, he finally got the courage to defect."

"It does not matter. Good for him that he is dead now."

A cold voice spoke from the crowd "No, you made another mistake, half-blood."

Many pairs of eyes turned to a portion of the crowd. There were three figures clad in black cloaks amongst the multitudes. Snape had a bandage on a side of his neck, but the Malfoys were there too- all with cold, vacant expressions on their faces.

"What are you three doing there, help me to fight this boy."

Narcissa Malfoy spoke back "We no longer follow you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Voldemort shouted in rage and pointed his wand at the three black-clad figures, but before he could shoot any spell, a strong invisible hand, overpowering Voldemort's grip, seemed to grab his wand-tip and forced it downward. He turned at Harry, his eyes blazing.

Harry looked directly into the scarlet eyes "You will not be harming anyone here."

"It seems that you have finally faced me. You fool, this is The Elder, the most powerful wand in Europe that I stole from Dumbledore's grave. I am it's master now. You do not have my power, or a wand as powerful as this, foolish boy."

Harry did not feel the need to correct his adversary right then.

He simply spoke in a sarcastic voice "Why don't you try to finish me with it?"

"AVADA KEDAVRA."

As the green burst of light rushed towards Harry, he simply gave a small flick with his wand. A thick wall of stone rose from the earth and blocked the curse, while a loud noise kept echoing.

"See? The Killing curse can be blocked with a good physical obstacle."

"Shut up and face this then, Potter."

This time, thin tendrils of what looked like black smoke erupted from the tip of Voldemort's wand. A tendril rushed straight towards Harry, another followed the path of a projectile, two others followed curved paths towards his flanks- all at a high velocity.

Harry simply waved his wand in a circle, the ground around him rose into a smooth dome of stone and encased him. The tendrils hit the dome with the force of muggle RPG rockets but only managed to make some scratch marks in the surface of the dome. The dome then changed back to earth, only to be blasted away by a powerful reductor curse from Voldemort's wand and then, two successive killing curses were fired by Voldemort at that spot.

Some people screamed in fear, but when a happy-looking Voldemort cleared away the rubble with his own wand, the space was totally devoid of any person- living or dead.

A laugh caught everyone's attention. Harry was standing at a spot far away from where he was, his left palm grasping something.

"Seen it, Riddle? I always had things you didn't. I have a special portkey that will allow me to move within the grounds. You don't have anything else than your legs. "

Voldemort spoke no more and roared "AVADA KEDAVRA."

This spell had Harry's doubts. He was sure Voldemort was not insane to do the same thing and expect a different result. He would not avoid this one, but face it.

Harry knew what to do other than what he has already done. He knew how to cast the killing curse himself by now- actually the principle was exactly the same as the Patronus charm. He looked at the green light, pointed his wand and filled his mind with the face of Peter Pettigrew.

The spell that was cast needed no incantation. The green beam of light that erupted from his wand-tip seemed to be brighter than the one rushing towards him. The two beams collided with a blinding flash and the sound of a fierce strom, the brighter beam from Harry's wand seemed to be pushing back that from Voldemort's, right into it's source.

The beam of green was pushed back into Voldemort's wand and cracks suddenly appeared on it's surface. Harry's own curse changed to a burst of green and vanished into thin air. Voldemort twirled his wand and pointed it again at Harry, only it was filled with deep cracks and no spell came out of the tip. A burst of blue light, the wand crumbled to pieces, leaving only the handle in the hands of a surprised Voldemort.

"Loved it, Riddle?"sneered Harry. "This is another example of your ignorance and Dumbledore's manipulations. While you spent a good amount of time in a wild goose chase and felt happy to get the thing and murder a follower to master it, you never knew that Dumbledore had passed on the wand to me before he died- I had better use of it. The wand you held was a fake- same wood and core, but not the real thing."

For the first time, Voldemort looked at the wand in Harry's hand and noticed it looked exactly similar to the one he had stole from Dumbledore's grave.

Voldemort roared "I don't need a wand to cast spells."

He looked into the eyes of Harry, but after a moment, staggered back- as if pushed by someone. He looked at the green-eyed boy with a mix of confusion and rage.

"What made you think I do not know about wandless magic- to be specific, the Imperius curse can be cast through eye contact by a powerful warlock? It was the same process that your servant Quirell used, right? Make a pretext to draw money, curse the accompanying goblin and use him to rob the vault, only to find it empty?"

"You are a Gryffindor and this is a fair fight?" there was despair in the voice of Riddle.

"Is this a game? And says who? Where was fairness when you tried to curse a fifteen-month old me or challenging a fourteen-year old boy to a duel? Any way out for you now?"

Voldemort knew that Harry had certain advantages over him, but he did have a card up his sleeve, a dark magic trick- which he had no reason to divulge to anyone. It was time to play it.

The tall pale body of Riddle suddenly went rigid, his face blank and eyes vacant. It fell to the ground face forward, but the fall was broken by the stretched out hands. Then, an ugly scene of dark magic was witnessed by all- Voldemort's escape plan.

The robes fell away from the frame, revealing a naked crawling humanoid with red eyes. Body and spirit separated away in a flash. The body walked on all fours like a spider and charged at Harry- it had become an Inferus. The spirit, on the other hand, rushed out of the body- a shadowy mass of white. It flew towards Hogsmeade.

However, the trick failed. Harry simply pressed the portkey on his left palm, vanishing and reappearing in front of the spirit the next moment. He pointed his wand and said a spell- spirit Voldemort was encased in a transparent pale blue-coloured ball.

The inferus was confused for a few seconds when it's target vanished, but that time was enough for Hermione to point her wand at it and cast a spell. Thin tendrils rose from the ground beneath it and bound it tightly. It tried to give a violent struggle against the bonds, but Hermione conjured up more thin ropes. Before the inferus could do anything else, it was tightly wrapped in a cocoon and struggling, resembling a fish put out of water.

Harry simply laughed and levitated the captured spirit back towards the castle. The rituals of soul-splitting made the spirit form of Voldemort hideous. While other ghosts of the castle had a proper pale, transparent body, Voldemort simply had a skeletal face and a thick tentacle underneath it like a snake, no body parts.

He looked at the angry spirit and said "Nice plan, but it failed. You may have a spare body somewhere and may live again of you enter it within twelve hours. Now, I will destroy you."

He faced the bound-down inferus, took out a crystal ball, another "gift" he had kept ready for Voldemort, containing a potion. He simply flung the ball- it broke, spilling the contents all over the struggling body. Moments later, the figure dissolved into a mass of muddy water, leaving behind no trace of it's previous state.

He then put his wand right through the bubble, it yielded like a bubble made of soap. The plan was to take some extra steps. He muttered "Obliviate maxima"- the angry eyes of spirit Voldemort suddenly became vacant. Harry did not care where the spirit would go, but deprive it of any memory. An exorcism spell followed, the hideous form glittered and dissolved into nothingness. Harry dissolved the bubble, it was no longer needed.

The crowd gasped for a few moments till the fact shrunk in- the terror of Britain was dead and gone. A loud cheer erupted, followed by hundreds of people rushing towards Harry.

He himself just amplified his voice "Stop everbody. I just want a feast now."


	8. Chapter 8: Aftermath

CHAPTER 8- Aftermath

DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

WARNING- contains some mature elements.

This is an anticlimax chapter.

N.B- If there is any similarity to any other writer's works, it is unintended co-incidence. Of course it is different from the canon, otherwise why would I write it? It is from my unwritten fanfic- **A serpent mentored me**.

After the death of the Dark Lord, the forest folk had vanished. The merrows had also gone back to the depths of the lake. The Great hall was full of crowds that spilled to the grounds, the four house tables were full of people and the rest were sitting at tables transfigured from the ground. The beasts have gone back to normal appearance, Grawp was sitting just outside the castle perimeter on a mound of earth. The elves were serving whatever was available from the larders of the castle and the village- food and drink.

The losses were small but painful. In the light side, there were about twenty-five killed and a hundred injured, intense training and preparation had kept the numbers low. The other side had actually no idea what was waiting for them, paying for that dearly.

The Sorting Hat was the most "prominent" casualty in the conflict, but Harry was sure the object was defective and perhaps replacable. He could not understand how people like Dumbledore, Pettigrew or Romilda Vane were sorted into Gryffindor.

He had got the full idea of house rivalry particularly in his fourth year. His own house rallied in support behind him, Hufflepuffs were upset and angry, Slytherin was always opposing Gryffindor at any chance and thus tried to ally with Hufflepuff. Ravenclaws had adopted their stereotype behavior, remaining aloof and to themselves.

The Weasleys were huddled around Ginny. Snape had seen the hand hit by the Killing curse, it was already paralyzed and then cut off and bandaged. If not amputated, the paralysis would have gradually spread to the entire body and killed Ginny within an hour. She would be hospitalized in the hospital wing, transferred to St Mungo's soon.

Ginny had a curiosity about Harry in her early years. She later discovered that she was not the only one, nor did she know the boy as a person. She also realized that Lily Potter deserved the fame more. Harry gained respect for Ginny as a fellow Gryffindor, particularly when she threatened to hex people bullying her childhood friend Luna. It was not utter recklessness; Ginny took some private dueling lessons, particularly from Bill and later Tonks.

Hermione had followed a different path when she befriended Luna and learnt more. She had put nasty jinxes on both the girl and her belongings; people who tried to bully Luna or hide her things received some unpleasant surprises.

Mrs. Weasley had not turned back to her human form and was looking painfully at her dead son's body and spirit. Percy was, however, not sad. He was floating in the air and managed to speak pompously "It's all right, I am still there. I will return to work tomorrow."

The Slytherins were taken care of. The baron had glided through the walls, informing they had stayed quiet all the time. When Snape removed the confinement ward and asked for the final year prefects to meet him, Draco was badly shaken, but Daphne "Ice Queen" Greengrass was living upto her name. She bowed to Snape "Any orders to the house, sir?"

"Miss Greengrass, the house will be served food in their dormitories, they will eat and pack their trunks, the train will depart in the afternoon. If any of their parents or relatives are amongst the fallen, they cannot claim the body here. And tell them, any wand or brawl business in train will result in severe punishment."

The Malfoys were hugging their son, but got up to leave. Lucius, a thoroughly broken man with a blind eye, went out and apparated away. Narcissa, however had some unfinished business.

She first came to Luna, smiled at her and gently kissed the girl's forehead, hugging her. Harry had acquired some respect for Dracos' mother after he heard it all from Luna- the woman had bravely fended off Fenrir, who had wanted to rape Luna, and Bellatrix who was an interested spectator. She had even supplied a vial of poison to Luna, to be used if things got out of hand. The three friends had felt sick when they heard it all from their friend.

Narcissa then walked over to Andromeda- who was sitting with her husband, with a tense look in her face. However, Andromeda gave her a warm smile, enough for Lady Malfoy to rush to her sister and hug her tightly, breaking into sobs.

Ron muttered loudly "Blimey, what next? Malfoy turning polite?"

It was loud enough to reach the ears of Draco. He walked over and stared at the three friends with cold grey eyes that shone through his pale face, speaking in a steely voice.

"Weasley, I would really want to see you go through what I faced. You had siblings, I was a lone child. You had a mother, I had the Landlady of the manor, it changed only during the past two years. You never faced what the Lord made me do. All three of us were soft on you that night, we wanted you to escape- I myself felt sick."

He then turned to Hermione. "Granger, get this straight- the Wizengamot will have family seats. We will not be baptized and continue to celebrate Yuletide, Samhain and the full wheel of the year. You cannot change that, you or your kind have no right."

Hermione retorted back "I, on my part will never accept torturing house-elves."

Narcissa simply walked over and tugged at her son "Let's leave for home, Draco. You both can argue later, at a different place."

A few more began to leave. Kinglsey was the first after grabbing some bites, to meet the remaining dementors of Azkaban, asking them to free the inmates after recognizing his authority. Luna left too, her father would reach home and she had to be with him.

It was then when Harry's mind broke into fragments, filling him with pain.

This was not any physical pain, but as he looked around, the past came flooding back to him.

As he looked at the elves, Dobby's final moments came flooding back to him. The little fellow was in his arms, blood flowing from his chest and mouth due to the spike that pierced the body, but with a big smile on his face. His final words- "Dobby will die happily, Harry Potter sir. Dying in the arms of the noble Harry Potter, when saving his life- such an honour for Dobby!"

Was he noble? He now shivered in horror, when he recalled how he had slit the throats of Death Eaters without any hesitation. Hermione had protested, but felt it was a cruel necessity.

Hermione? He felt a pull in his heart when he thought of Hermione. He could not really understand how his best friend ended up with a boy who really was his faithful second friend, (Neville completed the list) but then again, he could not understand how these two managed to behave like complete idiots regarding each other. Yet, he did want both his friends to be happy.

He had told a few about this in the past, he got an answer.

While Sirius had laughed, Remus had brushed it off. "It's nothing, Harry. I became a friend of Lily when we did our Prefect duties together, just friends. Severus was her childhood friend too for a long time. I never understood women that much."

In his later years, Dudley had become something of a friend too, if not close. He was curious about the subjects taught at Hogwarts and surprised to know that magic did not necessarily comprise of what was feared and hated by muggles and prosecuted by the church in medieval times- necromancy, demon worship and summoning, sky-clad rituals, wasting spells, infant cannibalism and blood-drinking, weather manipulation, etc.

When he heard of Hermione, he had shrugged it off "Maybe you became too much of a close friend to her. I am not an expert, but the few in my school who have experience with girls and can play well in that area say such. I have zero idea with the magical people and their cultures too, so cannot comment on that."

"Hermione is muggle-born and raised, her parents are dentists."

As his eyes surveyed the hall, the first year's memories flashed in his mind. The castle felt like home within a very short time then - it will be over in just a few months. Memories hurt him.

 _He was at the Dursley's house_

"Uncle Vernon, the train to school will leave tomorrow from King's Cross at 11 o'clock tomorrow, Platform Nine and Three quarters. Can you drop me there?"

"What nonsense! I never knew such a platform is there, boy."

Aunt Petunia interjected then "But my dear, the platform does exist. I remember now, she used to go to that platform to travel to that school. It is through a wall in between 9 and 10. Freaks! "

 _The first feast at the Great Hall_.

After being sorted to Gryffindor, Harry had sat down beside a very tall black girl with ponytail. It was a little disturbing to talk to a ghost in ruffs and an archaic way of talking for the first time, but was curious after the initial introductions by the girl.

"Hello, Harry! I am Angelina Johnson, vice-captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This is Sir Nicholas, resident ghost of the Gryffindor tower."

Then Sir Nicholas had bowed and looked longingly at the food appearing on the table, Harry asking him a question that seemed stupid now. He did get an answer.

"Ich have not eaten for nearly five hundred years, young boy. Ich don't need to, but do miss it. Of course, the food is different now. Potatoes were considered swine food at a time."

"Oh, I did not know that. Sir Nicholas, are you the oldest ghost of this castle?"

"No, not me. The maiden Ravenclaw and the Baron are the oldest, almost since the founding days of the castle. They haunt the Ravenclaw tower and Slytherin dungeon."

Harry then asked an innocent question, the answer was disturbing to people all around.

"May I ask who the youngest ghost is ?"

"Of course. She is called Moaning Myrtle, poor thing has not adjusted to ghost life yet. The older girls know her, she was a Ravenclaw student fifty years ago before she was killed here."

 _His first Charms class_

The short Professor Flitwick was standing on a raised pedestal. He spoke clearly.

"Children, I am your teacher for Charms or Spells. I will not tell you the definition of this subject, but will ask you later sometime. Let me tell you, it is one of the basic branches of magic. I will start with a certain class of spells called Kinesis charms- used to control the motion of various objects as per the wishes of the caster."

 _The lessons with brutally honest Snape in the castle_

"See Potter, fame cannot get you marks or your house any credit."

"Miss Granger, I can see you can repeat what is written in the books. But Longbottom will get his own scores in exams, not you. Let him learn by himself. He will need to follow instructions written in plain English, he has the mental capacity I think."

Not to mention how he would give Harry detentions regularly, much to the delight of Malfoy and his goons- but only two of them knew what was actually done there.

Severus Snape was the last father figure left in Harry's life now. He was also the first person whom Harry loved as far as he could remember, because he was the first to show Harry affection and was first to counter the manipulations of Dumbledore- disrupting the plans the old man had laid down for Harry's life.

Snape, the first person who had met him from the magical world, years before the Hogwarts letter arrived, with a false (?) name, Mr Eileenson Prince, and taught him a few dirty tricks- like stealing food from the refrigerator, exercising and meditating to build a strong body and mind and even controlling the "funny staff" as per his own wish.

He later learnt how Snape had managed to track him. Lupin had wanted to contact Harry too, but Dumbledore had flatly refused and reassured him of Harry's well-being. The same thing was done with the friends of Lily too, none had the courage to argue with a man of Dumbledore's status, or ask a question whose answer was refused. All were sure that Dumbledore was doing "what was best" for Harry, almost Gryffindor-ish respect for a leader.

Snape, however, had less respect for the old coot and actually got a hint from Hagrid, most capable Slytherins can do jobs like putting two and two together or picking a scent easily.

Getting Hagrid drunk at his own hut, then getting out facts and obliviating him was enough to cover his trail. He even overlooked the school-time grudge and discussed the situation with Lupin after contacting him. He had told Harry all of it later, much to the latter's amusement.

However, he was jolted back to the present by the persons standing in front of him- Snape and McGonagall. Snape was smiling at him, the first time in public. He knelt down and put his hands on Harry's shoulder, much to the surprise of everybody around.

"Harry, I will leave in a few days. Perhaps you would meet me later, my boy? Then we could have a little talk for the last time. I have something to tell you."

"Where are you going, sir?" the sadness in Harry's voice was too clear.

"I have been offered a position in Durmstrang. A new school- plus they use Runic incantations in magic, unlike Latin used by us and Beauxbatons. Have to adjust to that, but before that.."

"You will leave me?" the hurt was evident in Harry's tone.

"We can contact via owls occasionally. But you need to start a new life. Please, a new future lies ahead of you. You should live a simple ordinary life, not what I taught you. I care for you for your sake, not like the manipulative old man, I taught you not to trust him."

He could sense the pain in Harry and could not face it now, so hurriedly said "I want you to forget the old man, he did give you something useful and has no control over you now. Please excuse me, I have to see my house in the dungeons."

The lump in Harry's throat hardened, but he looked at the other teacher "Where is Hufflepuff?"

"She does not come out too often, my boy. But she will meet me at the tower and discuss a lot of things. The castle will be repaired before normal schedule is restored. I have to look after the subjects and change them as I feel the best. You three will re-join, I hope?"

"I would like to come back as a student, be it for a year. I want to go on a world tour after that. You will change the subjects taught here?"

"I feel it would be the right thing. The subject of Divination would be re-named as Divination principles, that's more accurate as a name. Hagrid will take the practical classes in his subject, a different theory teacher would be better. But leave it, are you well? Have you seen how other students used some unknown magic to defend the castle, I did not know what those were."

Hermione, sitting nearby raised her eyebrows "Oh, I was surprised too. But I know a few, Professor. For Bellatrix, someone used a voodoo doll. Cho used a thought-controlled gargoyle, but wizards in around her old homeland know amazing magic. For the rest, I have no idea."

The leader of the crack unit, with a difficult-to-pronounce Nordic name laughed "We also used a technique favored by the most powerful muggle military. When they attack an enemy, they use everything they have at their disposal simultaneously."

"Thanks for the help, Miss Granger and you, sir. However, I myself will ask the Ravenclaws."

Anthony Goldstein was happy to talk "I used golems. It is a very ancient magic used by Jewish wizards, much before gargoyles and even modern automatons used by muggles. Our homeland had too few people receiving unwanted attention from too many."

McGonagall then turned towards the Patil twins, Parvati had her head in her sister's lap and was asleep, black paint still faintly visible on her face. Padma faced the sternly asked question "Miss Patil, what was the spell that your sister used at the battle?"

Padma was blushing "My sister only called forth the power of the old Goddess. My old homeland has powerful wizards who know much more than what we do. They can cast spells without wands; they can use a handful of dust, arrows or even a blade of grass to cast magic, we learnt to use wands here. You can read Indian epics and get the idea, Professor."

"I am currently interested in what Miss Patil did here. The power of an unknown Indian Goddess? I was scared to see the change in her when she fought. It was dangerous magic, your sister is too exhausted even now. I am worried for her."

"The Goddess is not unknown, Professor. Even the people of this land worshipped a similar deity named Callieach in ancient times. My sister will get well soon, I assure you. She is just exhausted from wielding a huge amount of magical energy."

Harry finally turned his senses off, ignoring the sights and sounds of the Great hall and rose up. He needed a shave, bath and rest before anything else, Gryffindor dormitory was the best place and known to him all these years.

 _Appendix: The interview_

Harry looked with amusement at Rita Skeeter struggling not to publish any gossip. The interview would be published in The Quibbler as per his wish.

"Mr Potter, how do you feel after saving Britain from You-know-who?"

"It was not totally my effort. A few helped me a lot, they deserve the credits too. Just as my earlier case, my mother deserved the fame more than me. At last, a huge number stood against his gang of criminals and fought them."

"Is You-know-who really gone? Where is he now, you think?"

"There are hundreds of witnesses who witnessed my exorcizing of his fragmented spirit. If you want to know where he is, you may try to interview the unspeakables."

"There are rumors that Dumbledore was a Dark Lord before You-know-who?"

"Dumbledore did share a slogan with his former lover- for the greater good. There are certain similarities between Dumbledore and Riddle. Both wanted power and only Dumbledore had occupied key positions in Britain, both counted followers as expendable. Professor Snape was the main person who had thwarted Dumbledore's attempts to use me as a pawn. He was self-projected as a major opposition figure, but in reality the Order members were getting killed one by one in the first war. My mother's sacrifice stopped it, not Dumbledore. "

"What is the main difference between Dumbledore and Riddle you think?"

"If Tom Riddle wanted a person to die, he would have tried to kill him himself. If Dumbledore wanted someone to die, he would manipulate the person to death, keeping his own hands stain-free. To tell you the truth, I would trust Death eaters more than Dumbledore."

"I had heard that Dumbledore heard a prophecy, you will have a power that You-know-who knows not, and he believed it to be love?"

"As time progressed, I realized that I did not believe a single word of Dumbledore. If I had any power unknown to Riddle, I believe it was power of the masses- we had far more people, very competent ones too, on the side opposing Riddle and his followers. Many loving families were torn apart by his actions, right? My classmates Susan and Neville count too. We also had the element of surprise in the last battle."

Harry felt no reason to tell the complete truth, he did get the Elder wand, albeit with Snape's persuasion, the single useful thing. There was no need to publicly tell everything and attract attention. Of the seven horcruxes, three had virtually fallen into their lap, four more was the maximum limit, but why reveal everything?

"Was Dumbledore an evil liar as it seemed to you?"

"A complex question. And his words- he would basically tell a person what he wanted them to know and act according to his wishes. Truth, half-truth, avoiding or lie came after that."

"You have any plans for the future?"

"Finish my studies first. Second, hand over the Black residence to my godson and then claim my inheritance to Potter estate and Wizengamot seat. Dumbledore had planned that after my death, the estate would be auctioned off by the ministry, adding to it's coffers. My own good is my concern now, no greater good. Third, I have a whole magical world to explore. That's it."

Nineteen months later, Harry was seen really flying on a broomstick, a charmed trunk tied behind, with the white cliffs of Dover in the background.

THE END.


End file.
